While a few of the provisions in the 1996 federal welfare reform were aimed at preventing welfare dependency, there was no federal mandate to lift all children out of poverty as a means to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and government assistance. This presentation examines whether the timing of early poor health and poverty predict later adult welfare dependency (more than five years of welfare receipt). Applying a life course perspective and using longitudinal data collected for more than 30 years from a community of inner city African Americans, multinomial logistic regression is used to determine whether poverty or poor health in infancy, first grade, and adolescence influences adult welfare dependency, after controlling for background characteristics. These analyses demonstrate that females -- who are much more likely to be welfare dependent based on eligibility criteria -- are more likely to be welfare dependent in adulthood if they were chronically poor during their early life course, drop out of highschool, become teen parents who drop out of highschool, and have adulthood poor health in combination with earlier poverty. Interestingly, being a teen mother who graduated from highschool was not predictive of welfare dependency in adulthood. For males, early health status was important in predicting later welfare dependency. Thus, while ensuring that individuals delay parenthood and graduate from high school are worthwhile federal goals for preventing welfare dependency, decreasing early poverty and improving health status are also important in preventing welfare dependency and helping individuals move from welfare toward self-sufficiency.
Learning Objectives: At conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. Articulate the early life course factors associated with later adult welfare dependency. 2. Discuss how provisions from the 1996 federal welfare law sought to prevent later adult welfare dependency and how effective these policies have been. 3. Evaluate social policies that affect those who are economically disadvantaged from a life course perspective
Keywords: Welfare Reform, Child/Adolescent
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.